Prof Brings Botany to Life Through New TV Show

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uak3m_q-HDo]
SUNY Plattsburgh’s Dr. Chris Martine wants everyone to know that plants are cool and is spreading the word through a video he created.

The pilot episode of “Plants Are Cool Too!” is now posted on YouTube. It features plants with stomachs and fire ants on narcotics.

“My vision all along has been to create a television show that does for plants what a show like ‘Crocodile Hunter’ does for animals,” said the associate professor of biology, who is also a SUNY Chancellor’s Award winner and the recipient of the Charles Edwin Bessey Teaching Award from the Botanical Society of America. “If you turn on Animal Planet, Science Channel or Discovery Channel, there are a lot of shows about animals and a lot of people getting excited about animals and getting other people excited as well, but there’s nothing about plants.

“I’m not talking about a gardening show. I’m talking about a science-based show about plants. There are so many amazing stories out there,” he said.

Produced by SUNY Plattsburgh communications graduate Paul Frederick ’90 and Tim Kramer of Northway Productions, this first episode was funded by the Botanical Society of America and SUNY Plattsburgh. As word about the piece gets out, Martine hopes that other funders will take note and help him continue the project, sharing even more stories about what he sees as a fascinating world of plants.